<?php
/**
 * <https://y.st./>
 * Copyright © 2018 Alex Yst <mailto:copyright@y.st>
 * 
 * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 * (at your option) any later version.
 * 
 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 * 
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 * along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org./licenses/>.
**/

$xhtml = array(
	'<{title}>' => 'Health beliefs',
	'<{subtitle}>' => 'Written in <span title="Introduction to Health Psychology (previously known as Introduction to Human Psychology)">PSYC 1111</span> by <a href="https://y.st./">Alexand(er|ra) Yst</a>, finalised on 2018-09-19',
	'<{copyright year}>' => '2018',
	'takedown' => '2017-11-01',
	'<{body}>' => <<<END
<h2>The health belief model</h2>
<p>
	The health belief model may be useful for looking at why people act the way we do.
	However, it doesn&apos;t explain everything.
	For example, this model is criticised by Hagger and Luszczynska for not paying much attention to a person&apos;s intentions and their planning (Hagger &amp; Luszczynska, 2014).
</p>
<h2>Health behaviours unrelated to health beliefs</h2>
<p>
	I don&apos;t tend to focus on my health very much, yet still, I engage in a lot of health behaviours.
	For example, I bike nearly everywhere I need to go, and when I don&apos;t bike, I walk.
	Part of this is because I&apos;m worried about the environment.
	My own health matters less than that of the planet, because the planet will outlive me.
	Harm to my own health is more therefore much more temporary.
	I considered getting an electric car, which wouldn&apos;t burn fossil fuel.
	My state uses mostly hydroelectric power, so fossil fuels aren&apos;t used to generate the electricity used by electric cars.
	However, it seems my state refuses to issue drive tests, and therefore refuses to issue first time driver licenses, to anyone without telephone service.
	Though I learned how to drive, I couldn&apos;t get a driver license when I tried!
	So driving would be illegal for me.
	And lastly, I&apos;m really poor and can&apos;t afford to buy a car anyway.
	So events have led me to bike everywhere instead of driving, which as a side effect, gets me exercise, fresh air, and sunshine.
	Healthy?
	Yes!
	Is health the goal?
	Not in the slightest!
</p>
<p>
	I have negative health behaviours not associated with health beliefs as well.
	For example, I hardly ever go to the doctor.
	Originally, I couldn&apos;t afford to.
	At this point, I have health insurance and could go to the doctor any time I chose to, but I lack the time and energy.
	Coursework keeps me both busy and drained.
	Some people are embarrassed to go to the doctor, as our textbook mentions (Ogden, 2017).
	That&apos;s not me though.
	I&apos;m perfectly fine discussing my health, with complete strangers and close friends alike.
</p>
<p>
	And lastly, there are the health behaviours I have that are supposedly motivated by health beliefs, but honestly aren&apos;t really.
	I wear a seat belt on the rare occasion I&apos;m riding in someone&apos;s car merely out of habit.
	I don&apos;t even think about it.
	My mother even complains about it sometimes when we&apos;re, as she says, &quot;just heading to the other side of the parking lot&quot;.
	It doesn&apos;t matter where we&apos;re going.
	It was drilled into me as a child, and now my instinct is to put on a seat belt as soon as I sit down in a motor vehicle.
	I also wear a helmet when I bike.
	Do I think I&apos;m going to crash?
	No.
	Why would I crash?
	I mostly wear a helmet because there are children about.
	If they see people riding without a helmet, they might think it&apos;s okay for them to ride without one too.
	I&apos;d rather set a better example than that.
	Brain safety is no laughing matter.
</p>
<p>
	Then there are my body dysphoria issues.
	Among my many bodily issues, I&apos;m fat.
	Like, until recently, if I sat in a chair and bent over to put on a pair of socks, my legs would push my fat into my lungs and I&apos;d be winded.
	When I say I&apos;m fat, this isn&apos;t like when a dyslexic thinks they&apos;re fat and they&apos;re actually way too thin.
	I&apos;m honestly overweight.
	So lately, I&apos;ve changed up my diet.
	It&apos;s working, but slower than I&apos;d like it to.
	I still eat until I&apos;m not hungry, as I don&apos;t feel well if I don&apos;t, but by removing several key things from my diet (such as everything that&apos;s overly greasy), I&apos;m starting to get thinner.
	I can actually sit down and put on socks without winding myself now.
	But am I doing this for health reasons?
	No.
	I&apos;m doing this because my fat gut makes me look like a man, which I most decidedly am not.
	I&apos;m tired of looking like a man.
</p>
<h2>My main health belief</h2>
<p>
	When it comes to health beliefs I actually act on, the only one I honestly think of is that drugs are dangerous.
	They&apos;re not all dangerous in the same way, but they all have their own issues, and I want no part of that.
	If a drug is honestly supposed to fix something, I&apos;ll take it.
	For example, I had a battle with a bout of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uveitis">Iritis</a>.
	My eyes swelled up painfully and I nearly went blind.
	I took steroid eye drops prescribed by a medical doctor to try to fix my eyes.
	Some permanent damage was done by the iritis, and one of my eyelids no longer opens as wide as the other, but I can see again.
	This is the sort of drug I take.
	Other drugs treat not problems, but annoying symptoms.
	For example, I had some teeth pulled because I inherited weak teeth from both my parents.
	The dentist prescribed pain killers for afterwards.
	I took none of them.
	Instead, I endured the pain.
	Pain is a symptom, not a problem, so my belief in the benefits of the drug doesn&apos;t outweigh my fear of the drug.
	When most people get headaches, they reach for the acetaminophen.
	But if I can endure the pain of gaping holes in my gums, do you think I take drugs for mere headaches?
	No.
	No, I don&apos;t.
</p>
<p>
	Needless to say, this keeps me away from recreational drugs as well.
	I&apos;ve never had a sip of alcohol or a puff of a cigarette in my life.
	Marijuana was recently legalised in my area, and I don&apos;t use that either.
	With zero gain to be had from these, the risk necessarily outweighs the reward in my mind.
	If I&apos;m being honest, my extreme fear borders on the irrational side.
	However, it&apos;s also true that I have a highly-addictive personality.
	If I&apos;m not careful, I get addicted to things such as collecting a particular type of item or playing a particular game.
	Imagine what would happen if I allowed myself to become chemically addicted to a recreational drug?
	The chemical addiction and the habit addiction would reinforce one another.
	I&apos;d likely never be able to kick the drug habit.
	Ever.
	If I can&apos;t tear myself away from SuperTux and Minetest, what chance do I have of tearing myself away from tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol?
</p>
<p>
	This strong health belief has no doubt had an impact on my health.
	My lungs aren&apos;t full of tar, fibreglass, and cyanide, all of which are present in cigarettes.
	Marijuana is know to cut down on restful sleep, and I don&apos;t have to worry about that because I&apos;m not a user.
	I haven&apos;t killed my liver by poisoning it with booze.
	I&apos;m overweight, &apos;cause I can&apos;t get myself to stop eating so much.
	But I could be in a lot worse condition than I am.
	I&apos;ve watch people I care about and that my family cares about kill themselves off slowly by smoking.
	They get started and just can&apos;t stop, no matter how unhealthy they become.
	I&apos;ve heard stories of people drinking themselves to death because they just can&apos;t beat their own alcoholism.
	People say you should try anything once, but science doesn&apos;t back that.
	Sometimes even once is too much.
</p>
<div class="APA_references">
	<h2>References:</h2>
	<p>
		Ogden, J. (2017). The Psychology of Health and Illness: An Open Access Course. Retrieved from <a href="https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/326138/mod_book/chapter/166764/Ogden-The_psychology_of_health_and_illness.pdf"><code>https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/326138/mod_book/chapter/166764/Ogden-The_psychology_of_health_and_illness.pdf</code></a>
	</p>
	<p>
		Hagger, M.S. &amp; Luszczynska, A. (2014). Implementation intention and action planning interventions in health contexts: State of the research and proposals for the way forward. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-being, 6(1), 1-47. Retrieved from <a href="https://espace.curtin.edu.au/bitstream/handle/20.500.11937/32868/199541_199541.pdf?sequence=2&amp;isAllowed=y"><code>https://espace.curtin.edu.au/bitstream/handle/20.500.11937/32868/199541_199541.pdf?sequence=2&amp;isAllowed=y</code></a>
	</p>
</div>
END
);
